Mary Jo Leddy, (born 1 February 1946) is a Canadian writer, speaker, theologian and social activist. Leddy is widely recognized for her work with

refugee A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

s at Toronto's Romero House. In 1973, she was the founding editor of the ''

Catholic New Times ''Catholic New Times'' was a Canadian Roman Catholicism, Roman Catholic newspaper founded in 1976 by social activists, including Mary Jo Leddy, Fr. Jim Webb SJ, Fr. Tom McKillop, Fr. Bud Smith SFM, Sr. Margaret Ordway IBVM, and Jim Morin who propos ...

''. She is the author of the books "Say to the Darkness We Beg to Differ" (Lester and Orpen Denys, finalist City of Toronto Book Award), ''Reweaving Religious Life: Beyond the Liberal Model'' (Twenty Third Publications, 1990), ''At the Border Called Hope: Where Refugees are Neighbours'' (HarperCollins, 1997 and finalist for the Trillium Award, ''Radical Gratitude'' (Orbis Books, 2002), "Our Friendly Local Terrorist" (Between the Lines 2010) and "The Other Face of God: When the Stranger Calls Us Home" (Orbis 2011). 'Why Are We Here? A Meditation on Canada" (Novalis 2019) Leddy was the recipient of a Ph.D. in

philosophy Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...

from the University of Toronto with a thesis titled "The Event of the Holocaust and the Philosophical Reflections of Hannah Arendt." She studied under the direction of

Emil Fackenheim Emil Ludwig Fackenheim (22 June 1916 – 18 September 2003) was a Jewish philosopher and Reform rabbi. Born in Halle, Germany, he was arrested by Nazis on the night of 9 November 1938, known as Kristallnacht. Briefly interned at the Sachsenhaus ...

, and she is currently a Senior Fellow at Massey College, University of Toronto, and a board member of PEN Canada and Massey College. After some years as a member of the Roman Catholic Sisters of Our Lady of Sion, she began working for a welcome house for refugees in 1991. This house then became the Romero House community and she became its director until 2010. She continues to live and work at Romero House. Leddy received the Human Relations Award of the Canadian Council of Christians and Jews (1987), the Ontario Citizenship Award (1993), and the Order of Canada (1996). She has received several honorary doctorates: * D.Litt. - York University (1993) * D.Litt. - Mount Saint Vincent (1994) *

LL.D Legum Doctor (Latin: “teacher of the laws”) (LL.D.) or, in English, Doctor of Laws, is a doctorate-level academic degree in law or an honorary degree, depending on the jurisdiction. The double “L” in the abbreviation refers to the earl ...

- Windsor (1990) * LL.D. - Waterloo (1995) * DD - St. Andrew's * D.M. -

Catholic Theological Union Catholic Theological Union (CTU) is a private Roman Catholic graduate school of theology in Chicago, Illinois. It is one of the largest Catholic graduate schools of theology in the English speaking world and trains men and women for lay and ordai ...

, Chicago (2008) * Honorary Fellow, University of St. Michael's College (2015) * DD -

Atlantic School of Theology Atlantic School of Theology (AST) is a Canadian public ecumenical university that provides graduate level theological education and undertakes research to assist students to prepare for Christian ministries and other forms of public leadership. ...

(2016) * DD Misericordia University , PA (2018) * (DD) Emmanuel College/Victoria University/U of Toronto (2019)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leddy, Mary Jo 1946 births Living people Activists from Toronto Canadian magazine editors Canadian spiritual writers Canadian Roman Catholic theologians Roman Catholic activists University of Toronto alumni Members of the Order of Canada Writers from Toronto Canadian people of Irish descent Date of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) Canadian women activists Canadian women magazine editors 20th-century Canadian nuns 21st-century Canadian nuns